Device for securing a weaving reed to a batten

ABSTRACT

An elongated connecting blade or bracing element ( 14 ) is used to fix a reed ( 1 ) to a batten beam ( 12 ). The blade runs substantially in the longitudinal direction (A) of the reed ( 1 ) and is connected to the upper profiled bar ( 4 ) of the reed ( 1 ) and to the batten beam ( 12 ) while being spaced away from the reed ( 1 ), in order to reduce a displacement of the reed ( 1 ) in the longitudinal direction (A).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a device affixing a weaving reed, hereafterreed, to the batten beam of a weaving machine, the reed comprising anupper profiled bar, in particular an upper U-channel, a lower profiledbar, in particular a lower U-channel, to be affixed to the batten beam,and reed dents mounted in-between.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is known to affix the lower U-channel profiled bar of a reed by aclamp, for instance by a key, to a batten beam. However it has beenobserved that at high weaving rates, i.e. of the order of 1,000 or morefilling insertions per minute, that the reed dents may break in thevicinity of the lower U-channel profiled bar.

It is known to reinforce one or both ends of the reed with solid steelbars which are mounted between the upper and lower U-channels inrelation to the reed dents and parallel to them. Such a reinforcing barmay be straight or be bent several times. When such a reinforcing bar issituated on the filling insertion side of the reed, difficulties areencountered in locating the main air jet nozzles and a cutter for thefillings, which should be located directly at the fabric selvage or atthe reed. If such a reinforcing bar is mounted on the opposite reedside, then it will hamper the installation of a filling detector or of afilling stretcher, which also should be mounted directly at the fabric'sside selvage or at the reed. In many cases this leads to a fabric havingrelatively wide waste edges. Moreover there may be streaks at the fabricedge in the zone of a solid-steel reinforcing bar. Regardless, at highweaving rates, such a reinforcing bar may fail to prevent the reed dentsfrom breaking at the lower U-channel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the invention is to create a device of the initiallycited kind to substantially reduce the danger of the reed dentsbreaking.

This problem is solved in that the upper profiled bar of the reed issecured, at least in its end region, to the batten beam by a connectingbrace element running substantially in the reed's longitudinaldirection, against displacements in said longitudinal direction relativeto the beam.

The invention offers the feature that the reed, in particular the upperprofiled bar, and the reed dents shall not oscillate in the longitudinaldirection of the reed. As a result the danger of reed dent rupture inthe vicinity of the lower profiled bar already is substantially reduced.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the connection element shallbe flexible transversely of the reed. Consequently the connection braceelement will not restrict the reed dent deformation transversely to thereed's longitudinal direction at beat up against the fabric's edge, andthereby the reed dents are able to deform uniformly at beatup. Thisfeature generally precludes fabric streaks. Also the danger of reed dentrupture in the vicinity of the lower profiled bar caused by beatupstresses is substantially reduced.

In a preferred embodiment, the connecting brace element is a metal bladeaffixed both to the upper profiled bar of the reed and at a distancefrom the end of the reed to the batten beam. In an advantageous design,the blade is made of steel and its thickness transversely to the reed isabout 2 mm, its height parallel to the reed is about 15 mm and itslength is approximately 100 to 200 mm. Such a blade will not bend at thestresses encountered, and longitudinal reed displacements aresubstantially prevented. Transverse displacements however are allowedand as a result the danger of forming streaks in the fabric is reduced.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a support holding theconnecting element brace is mounted on the batten beam in a directionalong an extension of the reed. As a result the connecting element isconnected in simple manner to the batten beam while spaced from thereed. As regards an airjet loom, at least one main jet nozzle shall bemounted appropriately on this support. When the connecting element ismounted opposite the insertion side, then appropriately a fillingdetector and/or a filling stretcher shall be mounted on the saidsupport. As a result, this support also can be used to mountoperationally required components and the total number of additionalparts is very low.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be evident fromthe description of the embodiments shown in the drawing and in thesub-claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a device of the invention to affix a reed toa batten beam,

FIG. 2 is a section along the plane II of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a section along plane III of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a section along plane IV of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective of another embodiment of a device of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The reed 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is fitted with a plurality ofsequentially mounted reed dents 2. A U-shaped recess is presentapproximately centrally in the reed dents 2 which together constitute aguide duct 3 for a filling. The reed dents 2 are affixed in across-sectionally profiled upper and a lower bar, namely in an upperU-channel 4 and in a lower U-channel 5. In both the upper U-channel 4and in the lower U-channel 5, the reed dents 2 are kept apart from eachother a predetermined distance by so-called connecting spirals 7, 8.Together with one connecting spiral 7 and 8 and retention bars 9 and 10,the reed dents 2 are bonded into the upper and lower U-channels 4 and 5respectively. The lower U-channel 5 is affixed by a key 11 and screws 13to a batten beam 12. The batten beam 12 is affixed in known manner bybatten arms (not shown) to a batten shaft (not shown) extending parallelto the batten beam 12.

In addition, an elongated connecting blade or brace element 14 ismounted on the reed 1 and extends substantially in the longitudinaldirection A of this reed 1 and prevents said reed from moving in saiddirection A relative to beam 12. In this embodiment the connecting blade14 is mounted on the filling insertion side of the reed 1. Theconnecting blade 14 is made of steel for instance and its thickness inthe transverse direction B is roughly 2 mm. Its height is about 15 mm.The connecting blade's length is about 100 to 200 mm.

The end 15 of the connecting blade 14 is connected to the batten beam 12and is spaced from the reed 1. A fastener 17 is mounted on the end 15and is affixed by a screw 16 to a support 18 which in turn is affixed tothe batten beam 12. This connection is carried out in relation to theconnection of the lower U-channel 5, that is using a key 19 and screws20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The support 18 is formed in the shape of a bent metal plate which, inthe case of an airjet loom, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, also supportsone or more main jet nozzles 21, 22. For that purpose a retention device23 of the main airjet nozzles 21, 22 is fastened by screws 24 to thesupport 18. The ends of the jet tubes 25, 26 of the main airjet nozzles21, 22 are also fastened by a further retention element or means 27 anda screw 28 to the support 18.

The end 29 of the connection blade 14 which is directed to the reed 1 ismounted to the upper U-channel 4 of said reed. For that purpose a strip30 is inserted into that space between the legs of the U-channel whichextends away from the reed dents 2. The width of this strip 30 is aboutthe same as the width of the upper zones of the dents 2 of the reed 1which are bonded into the zone subtended between the legs of the upperU-channel 4. Accordingly the strip 30 can be housed in said leg space ofthe upper U-channel 4 similar to the reed dents 2. The strip 30 adjoinsthe first dent 2A of the reed 1 and the end of the connecting spiral 7.The retention bars 9 run over a given length beyond the first reed dent2A and the end of the connecting spiral 7. Together with the retentionbars 9, the strip 30 is bonded to the upper U-channel 4. Moreover theretention bars 9 may be welded onto the strip 30. A strong connection isrequired between the strip 30 and the upper U-channel 4 because it mustabsorb comparatively high stresses. The shown embodiment also includes aretention strip 32 which is bonded to the back side of the upperU-channel 4 of the reed 1. The connecting blade 14 is mounted betweenthe strip 30 and the retention strip 32 and is affixed by a screw 31.Preferably the strip 30 is made of steel because such a selection isadvantageous when affixing the connecting blade 14 using a screw 31. Thethickness of the connecting blade 14 of this embodiment substantiallycorresponds to the thickness of the rear leg 33 (FIG. 2) of the upperU-channel 4. In this case, after the screw 31 has been tightened, thestrip 30 and the retention strip 32 remain substantially mutuallyparallel. This design is especially appropriate for reeds wherein theupper U-channel 4 is made of aluminum or another relatively lightweightmetal which per se would offer only modest mechanical strength.

In one embodiment variation, the connecting blade 14 is directly affixedby a screw to the upper U-channel 4 of the reed 1. This design isadvantageous for instance when the upper U-channel 4 of the reed 1 ismade of steel or another metal of comparatively high mechanicalstrength.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment which again offers the above describedadvantages, but wherein a connecting blade 34 is mounted on the oppositeside of the reed 1, that is, at the side which is opposite the fillinginsertion side. The connecting blade 34 is connected in the manner ofthe embodiment of FIG. 1 by one end 39 to the upper U-channel 4 of thereed 1 and by its end 40 to a support 35. A filling detector 36 and/or afilling stretcher 37 is/are mounted on the support 35 which again is abent metal plate and therefore are mounted directly next to the reed 1.The filling detector 36 and the stretcher 37 each are affixed by a screw41 and 42 to the support 35.

In a further embodiment not shown, a connecting blade 14 is mounted atthe filling insertion side of the reed 1 corresponding to FIG. 1 as wellas a connecting blade 34 at the opposite side corresponding to FIG. 5.

By introducing one or both elongated connecting blades 14, 34, the reed1 and in particular the upper U-channel 4 and the reed dents 2 shall beprevented from oscillating in the longitudinal direction A duringweaving operation. The connecting blades 14 and/or 34 absorb bothtensile and compressive forces, which prevent a displacement of theupper U-channel 4 toward the filling insertion side and in the oppositedirection. The connecting blades 14 and 34 are dimensioned in suchmanner that they shall be strong enough not to bend when subjected tocompression. Calculation shows that a connecting blade 14 or 34 about 2mm thick and about 15 mm high is adequately resistant to bending whenforces that arise at a weaving rate of 1,200 filling insertions a minuteand with as many corresponding beatups.

The elongated connecting blades 14 and/or 34 at worst will slightlydegrade the displacement in the transverse direction B of the end zone 6of the reed 1 in the vicinity of the main airjet nozzles 21, 22 and/orof the end zone 38 of the reed 1 in the vicinity of the filling detector36 or the stretcher 37. The displaceability of the reed 1 in these zones6 and 38 is not restricted with respect to the middle zone. Such afeature is attained by the connecting blades 14 and/or 34 beingcomparatively long and consequently will not unduly oppose bending inthe transverse direction B. As a result, any differential in thedisplaceability of the reed 1 in the transverse direction B is preventedthat produces streaks or other irregularities in the vicinity of theselvages. On the other hand, because displacements and oscillations ofthe upper U-channel 4 are substantially suppressed in the longitudinaldirection A, the dents 2 of the reed 1 are stressed less in the vicinityof the lower U-channel 5, and consequently the danger that the reeddents 2 should break in this region is considerably reduced.

The elongated connecting blade or brace elements 14 or 34 need notnecessarily be in the shape of a blade or the like. Illustratively theymay be in the form of round or polygonal bars of arbitrarycross-sections, which however should be designed in such a way thatwhile substantially suppressing a displacement of the reed in thelongitudinal direction A, they shall allow the displacement of the reed1 in the transverse direction B. If called for, the connecting elementsalso may be wires, especially steel wires, or also plastic cords.

The invention is not restricted to the above described and illustratedembodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the attachedclaims and allows changes and/or other combinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a loom batten beam and reed assembly, whereinthe reed includes an upper bar, a lower bar mountable on the batten beamand reed dents extending between the upper and lower bars, theimprovement comprising: at least one connecting brace element extendingin the direction of the reed and connecting the upper bar and the battenbeam in a manner so that the upper bar is restrained by said connectingbrace element against motion in the direction of the reed relative tothe batten beam.
 2. The improvement as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidconnecting brace element extends parallel to the reed.
 3. Theimprovement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connecting brace elementis configured and arranged so that motion of the upper bar in adirection transverse to the reed relative to the batten beam is notsubstantially restrained.
 4. The improvement as claimed in claim 3,wherein said connecting brace element extending parallel to the reed. 5.The improvement as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the connectingbrace element is attached to the upper bar at one end area of said bar.6. The improvement as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein saidconnecting brace element is elongated and its longer dimension extendsparallel to the direction of the reed.
 7. The improvement as claimed inclaim 6, wherein said connecting brace element reacts tensile andcompressive forces along its lengthwise direction and is flexible indirections transverse to its lengthwise direction.
 8. The improvement asclaimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, further comprising a strip fitted to saidupper bar and at one end area thereof, said connecting brace elementconnected to and extending between said strip and said beam.
 9. Theimprovement as claimed in claim 8, wherein said bar is elongated and itslongitudinal dimension extends parallel to said reed and said connectingbrace element reacts tensile and compressive forces along its lengthwisedimension.
 10. The improvement as claimed in claim 9, wherein saidconnecting brace element is flexible in directions transverse to itslongitudinal dimension.
 11. The improvement as claimed in claim 10,wherein said connecting brace element is a metal blade.
 12. Theimprovement as claimed in claim 11, wherein the thickness of the bladein its transverse direction is about 2 mm; its height extends parallelto the height of the reed and is about 15 mm; and the length of saidblade is approximately 100-200 mm.
 13. The improvement as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising a support mounted on the batten beamadjacent one end of and generally aligned with the reed, said connectingbrace element connected to said support at an end of said connectingbrace element extending towards the batten beam.
 14. The improvement asclaimed in claim 13, further comprising at least one main airjet nozzleof a loom attached to the support.
 15. The improvement as claimed inclaim 13, further comprising at least one filling detector mounted onthe support.
 16. The improvement as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 13,wherein said upper bar is metal, and wherein said connecting braceelement is connected to the upper bar by a fastener device, at least onepart of the fastener device being welded to the bar.
 17. The improvementas claimed in claim 1, further comprising two connecting brace elements,said brace elements extending between and connected to opposed ends ofsaid upper profiled bar and the batten beam.
 18. The improvement asclaimed in claim 13, further comprising a filling stretcher mounted onthe support.
 19. The improvement as claimed in claim 1, wherein an endof the upper bar comprises a fastener device that connects to theconnecting brace element.
 20. The improvement as claimed in claim 19,wherein at least a part of the fastener device is bonded to the upperbar.